Kiss me, Don't kill me
by Eulalie Kyouma
Summary: My name is Feliciano Vargas. Today I am 21 years old and I'm going to tell you the story of how I grew up in a Manhattan mafia, fell in love with Ludwig Beilschmidt and ended up in prison.
1. Meet the Family

My name is Feliciano Vargas and today is my 21st birthday.  
Birthdays used to be the kind of thing I loved to celebrate. Parties, pretty ladies, good wine, pasta, cake...but this year it just makes me feel happy I'm another year closer to dying. Being in prison for the past year has changed me a little. I used to be all smiles and pasta for brains as my family said...I don't know whether it's because I grew up or because I'm just fucked up but...I see things a hell of a lot differently now I can tell you that much.  
Prison is a pretty scary place. All my life I've been used to people not really liking me all that much but here it's very different...people don't just not like you because you're annoying or different...people just _don't like you_. It's hard to be friends with anyone here, it's been hard since I got here almost a year ago. No one is friendly, the food is disgusting...my family is gone. I really have nothing in here. The past year has changed me a lot but theres one person who keeps me sane...well saner I guess. I of course don't even get to see him... which sucks but then again where I am, everything sucks. That's why I'm writing...I figured I could just write about what got me in here. Anything to distract me from the bad food and the mean people. I've decided to write about why I'm here now. And why I'd give anything in the world to get out.

My story really begins 21 years ago when I was born. My mother lived just long enough to wrap me in a blanket and name me Feliciano before the blood loss got the better of her. She didn't give birth to me in a hospital, no, it wasn't safe there. So it was an alleyway for her. My father had done a good job of getting himself killed in what my Grandpa likes to call 'family business gone bad'. To this day I'm not really sure what happened to him for sure. All I know is I was raised by my Mom's Dad, Grandpa Romulus. Him and my older brother Lovino were the only blood relatives in my family. I won't cut any corners in telling you that we weren't exactly a normal family. We were what you would call a mafia...or maybe a syndicate. I didn't find out what we were doing was actually illegal until I was 17...I'd been doing odd jobs since I was a kid. Picking up cash, getting intel on the other 'families' of New York city. Anything I could get away with doing without my family letting me in on what we were _actually_ doing. We didn't do anything too bad I don't think...well _they_ never did. It was me who messed everything up and got myself thrown in this awful awful place...  
The real reason I'm in here starts exactly 2 years ago on my 19th birthday. The whole family was in 'The Glass Tomato', That's the bar Grandpa owned. We were the only ones that really used it though. Especially for family events like birthdays. This was a pretty important one because I was now the legal drinking age for Buffalo...of course I had been drinking for years already but now I could do it legally.  
Before I get into the story let me introduce you to my family.

**Francis Bonnefoy**.  
We all call him Franny. He's older than me by a good 8 years or so. Whenever we're doing a job that involves some sort of persuasion or seduction, he's the man for the job. Grandpa picked him up off the streets when he was 10 years old. He managed to eat a good meal every night purely by batting his eyelashes and begging for it. There's a rumour that he was roped into child prostitution in order to find places to stay...but Franny doesn't like to talk about it so we don't. He's good at what he does when he's bothered enough to do it. And by bothered enough...I mean not sleeping with someone or drunk off his ass on wine.

**Antonio Fernandez Carriedo**.  
We call him Toni. Except my brother, my brother calls him a bastard. A lot. Antonio is like me, he's not actually good for very much but he's loyal as hell. If Toni is ever taken by the police or another family...you could be sure as hell he wouldn't talk. He knows how to fight and he's a pretty good cook so he makes a good family member. Grandpa made him an addition to the family when Lovi came home from school with him one day saying he saw him getting beaten up by some Turkish guy, Sadik. Once Grandpa had heard how Toni managed to hold his own against one of the toughest guys he knew, he was in.

**Lovino Vargas.**  
My brother. Toni has a serious crush on him and it's pretty obvious Lovi likes him too...but won't admit it. He mostly handles intel and does all the money laundering and accounting and all that. He's grandpa's right hand man and he's really good at handling things when they go south. He's been a bit distant and well...a little mean ever since mom died. He was 4 when that happened so I guess he must remember it a little...

**Matthew Williams.**  
One of the twins. Matthew is good with tech stuff and hacking but he's even better at getting in and out of places totally unnoticed. We send him into places to hack into security systems or home computers and he gets out without arousing any suspicion. Grandpa took him and his twin brother in at 13 years old when he found out that Matt had been hacking into his orphanages computer system for years making sure him and his brother wouldn't get separated in adoption. He even hacked into the system and changed his own last name on his birth certificate to Williams, because he didn't like being compared to his brother.

**Alfred F Jones.**  
Matthew's twin. No one knows what the F stands for. We all assume he just added it in there to make his name sound cooler or something. Alfred is big on operations. He's only happy if he's right up front where the action is, being the hero as he always puts it. Al is in charge of all weapons and anything...violent. He's the muscle. He was picked up out of the orphanage the same time as his brother but he probably would have gotten picked up by Grandpa anyways. He was getting into a new fight every week at school. The thing was...the fights he got in were with all of the snotty rich kids. He'd beat them up, take their money and give it to the poor. Of course it wasn't actually the right thing to do...but Grandpa admired his sense of heroism.

As for me? I was always working as a diversion. I honestly was never too good at any of the serious stuff so they kept me in the dark about most things. But whenever we were being questioned by the police or we needed a sort of...undercover agent...I was the guy. I always freaked out a little under pressure but the thing was, I really genuinely liked making new friends so no one ever suspected I was up to something when I tried to get to know them.

So that's the family. We did good for ourselves. We weren't the kind of mafia you're used to seeing on TV...we weren't drug king pins or have the economy by the balls or something like that. We were just a nice family that thought everyone should only have what they deserve. We were like...modern day Robin Hoods or something. We just believed that everyone should only have what they work for, what they deserve. If you're a horrible person and have everything you want. We make sure you're a horrible person with nothing at all. If you're a kind person with absolutely nothing to your name, we make sure you receive a hefty check in the mail. How did Grandpa get started in all this? That's a long story...then again I got plenty of time right? It has to do with Grandpa's arch enemy and his Family. Around Manhattan we were known as the Roman Family...and _they_ were known as the Germanian Family. Everyone who knew anything about our 2 families knew we hated each other. Now that I think about it...they were just like us. We had no real reason to fight but we were raised on hatred towards them...so hate them we did. Now let me introduce you to what we knew about the Germania family as of 2012, my 19th birthday:

**Aldrich Beilschmidt.**  
He's the boss. Him and Grandpa have known each other since they were young so he probably knows a lot more about him than we do but just won't say. Grandpa doesn't like talking about his past with this guy so we don't know too much about him other than he's powerful. Insanely powerful.

**Gilbert Beilschmidt.**  
Aldrich's first grandson. Gilbert is the diversion guy. He's a big fan of toying with people in the most obvious and flashy ways possible. Explosions, bright lighting, chases in fancy cars, gold plated guns, high roller outfits. Gilbert was a very centre stage, go big go home kind of person. He wasn't too hard to figure out although once you figure him out, he's hard to stop. We know his younger brother is Ludwig and they were raised by Aldrich but thats about it.

**Honda Kiku.**  
The hacker. As soon as Matthew manages to hack into something he manages to override it. He's quiet just like Matthew but incredibly socially awkward, he can't lie to save his life and we use that to our advantage. He mostly stays in the shadows and away from the action so it's hard to get a good read on him. We know he's loyal to his grave though and cares a hell of a lot about the people that took him in.

**Ivan Braginski.**  
Utterly terrifying. He could kill a man in his sleep and not give a second thought about it. He's their assassin. We know next to nothing about this guy other than he has a sister and last time someone touched her...he killed them. So we know not to fuck with his sister.

**Arthur Kirkland.**  
Planner. He knows what he's doing at all times and he's damned good at it. He's in charge of all money, schemes, accounts, embezzling and laundering. He avoids getting in any of the action but he makes up for it with sheer skills in behind the scenes. He keeps all accounts clean with no traces of foul play whatsoever. We know he was in the british navy for most of his life and managed to pull off a mutiny. How he managed to steal an entire naval ship and rob the navy blind without even getting caught...we have no idea. But we know that if we ever catch the Germania family for something...it won't be anything to do with accounting.

**Elizaveta Héderváry.**  
We were never too sure specifically what her role was because she seemed to do it all. An all around tactical genius, mercenary, hacker, seductress, expert with leverage and diversion. Not to mention also a housewife. She has a husband and cushy apartment overlooking central park, all totally legitimate too. Her husband is a composer so they're pretty well off. Meaning, she works for Aldrich purely because she likes to. Do _not_ mess with her.

**Ludwig Beilschmidt.**  
Natural leader. Mainly in charge of artillery and attacks. Gilbert's brother and Aldrich's youngest grandson. Despite being the younger one, he's in line to take over the family business purely because Gilbert didn't want to. We probably know the most about Ludwig because he's the face of the family. Aldrich sends him to do his dirty work. And he's damn good at it.

So as you can see, we knew close to goddamned _nothing_ about the Germania family... The only thing I know for sure now is Ludwig Beilschmidt is where it all went wrong. I lost everything, ended up in prison and had to throw away everything I was...all because I decided to make myself part of a _fucking_ Romeo and Juliet story.

My name is Feliciano Vargas. Today I am 21 years old and I'm going to tell you the story of how I fell in love with Ludwig Beilschmidt and ended up in prison.

* * *

**My note to you:  
New story holy crap! I know at this point in time my PruCan fic 'Your Stars' isn't finished yet but I thought I would post this just to see if it got a good reaction. We're looking at a bit of a modern day New York mafia, Romeo and Juliet kinda story here.  
Oh yes and Aldrich is in fact Germania, he doesn't have a canon human name so I'm just using one of the common fan-made ones.  
I currently only have this and one other chapter for this story written so I'm terribly sorry if my updates are slow. This story could potentially get pretty complicated so I don't want to leave anything out or rush it too much. I will try my very very hardest to have _at least_ one chapter out per week.  
As for the length of this story...I'm going to try to keep it around 10-15 chapters...ish. But we'll see.  
Anyways, if you like the sound of it so far ****_please_**** let me know so I know whether or not to keep the updates flowing!  
Thanks so much for reading you guys!  
*shameless self promotion* Also if you're a PruCan fan, please check out my other in progress fic titled 'Your Star'  
Au Revoir mes chéries!**


	2. Operation: Łukasiewicz

"Alfred _please_ put the gun down!"  
"Why? Is someone not up for a good ol birthday game of Russian Roulette!?" Alfred laughed, pointing the gun straight at me.  
"Mattiiiieee! Make him stop that please he's freaking me out what if he shoots me and it really hurts!" I cried, hiding behind Matthew, who was on his laptop in the corner of the bar as usual.  
"You think I can stop him...?" Matthew sighed, "Al put the gun down. It's Feli's birthday, not everything is about domination."  
"Awww c'mon it's just loaded with blanks! _See!_" Alfred fired a shot at a wine bottle sitting on the bar and it shattered, red wine splattered everywhere. "WOAH SHIT MAN IT WAS LOADED!" Alfred laughed until a knife flew past his face, grazing his cheek before sticking into the wooden wall panel behind him. Needless to say, I screamed.  
"_That_ was fine _French_ wine you trigger happy petit _merde!_" Francis hissed, looking about ready to kill Alfred. Out of Matthew and Alfred, it was clear that the Frenchman liked Matthew a lot better.  
"Hey hey hey! Cálmese! Cálmese!" Antonio leaned on Francis trying to mediate as usual. "It's Feliciano's birthday! Be nice, si?"  
"Just because it's his birthday doesn't mean you have to be nice to him, bastard..." Lovi grumbled over his glass of whiskey in the corner.  
"All of you! Quiet!" Grandpa laughed as he walked into the bar. "I hate to spoil the fun...but we got a job to do."

That immediately piqued everyones interest. Moments later we were all gathered around a table looking at floor plans to a mansion.  
"The Łukasiewicz estate. Tonight Feliks Łukasiewicz is hosting one of the worlds biggest and most prestigious parties... so now is our chance to take him down quickly and quietly." Grandpa smirked with a twinkle in his eye, we all knew this look very well. He had a plan. "Łukasiewicz is a multi-billionaire polish weapons designer for MI6. Word is he's been playing dirty lately...selling intel, leaking weapons designs to terrorist organizations for profit and taking out higher up members of MI6 who are onto him. Basically...he's a bad guy. So that's where we come in."

Grandpa's plan was going great. I always loved elaborate plans like this when all of us got to get involved.  
**Stage 1: Positions.**  
Matthew had managed to hack himself, Francis and I onto the invitee list where Francis quickly made work of getting close and personal with Łukasiewicz and his personal assisstant Toris...it involved a lot of wine and flirting, as was the Francis way. Luckily Łukasiewicz seemed more than happy to flirt. Al had knocked out and tied up one of the guards there, stole his getup and was now wandering the grounds, keeping tabs on the security system and guard movements through the headset all the guards wore. Antonio swept the grounds for anything worth stealing, he also stood ready to cut the power if things started to go south. Lovi was waiting back at the Glass Tomato for Matthew to empty Łukasiewicz' accounts and transfer the money into our accounts, where he would quickly make work of laundering and distributing the money to the point of it being untraceable. As for Grandpa, he was outside in the get away car ready to make a quick escape while also controlling the radio that we all communicated through.  
**Stage 2: Intel.**  
While Łukasiewicz and his assistant were distracted, I tripped onto them, easily pocketing Łukasiewicz' smart phone and babbling apologies and explaining my family's history of clumsiness to make them assume I really was just an idiot, before handing the phone to Matthew to transfer it's contents onto his laptop and use it to hack onto the main computer.  
**Stage 3: Back up anyone in need.**  
"Feli. I need you to get to Mattie. He's in the main study on the second floor hacking into the system and there's a guard heading his way. I can't get there fast enough so you need to come up with a distraction." Al spoke to me through the tiny radio systems we were all connected through. Just one quick click of the tiny piece of metal on our inner ear and we could request backup. We may have been a mafia, but we had technology. Thanks to Mattie anyways.  
"Ok!" I said, quickly making my way upstairs. I was pretty calm, for this sort of thing. Back then it wasn't uncommon for me to break down crying in these sorts of huge operations. But it made me feel better that my whole family was in on this to help me at a moments notice.  
**Stage 4: Shit.**  
That's when things quickly went to hell. I walked into the study to see Matthew knocked out on the floor.  
"Matthew!" I cried, taking a step towards him before I heard the familiar sound of a gun cocking.  
"Feliciano Vargas." The man behind the trigger was unmistakable.  
"L-Ludwig Beilschmidt..." I stammered. All I knew about him at this point in my life is he was notorious for showing no mercy. He was going to kill me. Right here, right now. On my birthday. "P-Please don't kill me! Please! PLEASE! I-I'll do anything! I'll do anything! P-Please! D-Don't kill me! I-I'm only 19 y-years old and I-It's my birthday! I-I'm still a virgin please don't kill me!" I sobbed.  
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Ludwig hissed. In one smooth motion he managed to pin me against the huge office desk and press the gun to my head. That's when I heard the footsteps coming towards the office. "...someone is coming...try anything and I will not hesitate to kill you..." I immediately figured that getting caught would easily beat being dead so I yelled.  
"HEL-" Ludwig covered my mouth quickly and we both heard the footsteps get closer.  
"Verdammt...do you _want_ to get caught, _dummkoph_!?" He hissed, the footsteps got closer and closer and we both started to panic. I quickly looked back at Matthew, he wasn't passed out anymore and had made his way under the desk to hide. I'm not sure whether he was hiding from Ludwig or the person that was about to open the office door. Either way, he was out of sight which was good.  
**Stage 5: Improvise.**  
I quickly smacked the gun out Ludwig's hand and kissed him as hard as I could right when the door swung open.  
"Goodness! I'I'm v-very sorry!" The man who opened the door was Toris, Feliks' personal assistant. "Y-You shouldn't be here!" He stuttered, avoiding looking at Ludwig and I kissing. Ludwig was most likely as shocked as Toris was at the situation.  
"Oh I'm so sorry! We're just so very very in love that we had to come somewhere and wow we found this room and just couldn't help ourselves! SO sorry! We'll be right out! Please don't tell anyone please!" I rambled on and on, rambling was always one of my best skills and for some reason it normally worked, it could get me out of any situation. Of course now I realize it was just because people thought I was an idiot and in no way could be a threat...but either way, it worked. Toris nodded and told us to get out of the office as soon as he could and left. Unsurprisingly as soon as he did leave, Ludwig punched me.  
"Ow ow ow ow owww! I'm sorry I'm sorry!" I rubbed my cheek and Ludwig picked up his gun.  
"What the _hell_ was that!?" He yelled. I still really don't like people yelling at me.  
"I-It was something m-my brother taught me! M-Mi fratello Francis! He always t-tells me 'when in doubt! Kiss them!' H-He taught me that and look! It worked! No one is hurt! No one got c-caught! So y-you owe me! D-Don't kill me p-please!" And there I was begging for my life again.  
"...Take your Canadian and leave. Hope I never see you again..." Ludwig lowered his gun, Matthew and I scrambled down the halls to find Francis and the others.  
"_Merda merda merda! _Grandpa is going to be so mad!" We didn't stop running, not for a second.  
"Mad...? Feli why would he be mad? I mean..." We slowed down as we entered back into the main hall. "He may be a little mad about you sticking your tongue down Ludwig's throat...but I managed to download his entire hard drive _and_ wipe it so Ludwig can't get to it..." Matthew smirked, damn. He was good.  
"M-Mattie! Y-You did!? You did it!?" I hugged him and laughed. All that was left was get out of there before Ludwig could murder us all.  
**Stage 6: Get the hell out. **

Back at The Glass Tomato, we weren't exactly celebrating a job _well_ done...but it sure was a job done. Most of the family was drinking around the bar, but I stayed with Matthew by his computer.  
"So was he a good kisser?"  
"Mattiiiiie!" I whined, he was always so quiet but if he was comfortable enough with you he was a pain in the ass like his brother.  
"Sorry...sorry...I just find it funny thats all." Matthew giggled, not looking away from whatever he was typing on his laptop screen.  
"Promise you won't tell anyone ok? If Al finds out he'll never leave me alone and he'll make my life terrible!" I pouted, of course at that point I didn't know that Ludwig was telling his brother Gilbert about our little kissing situation. I don't know exactly how that went but from what Ludwig has told me I imagine it went a little something like...

_"GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You were kissed by a little Italian boy! Hilarious!" _  
_"Gilbert he's only a year or so younger than me. He saved us from getting caught." _  
_"You could have done that on your own, dumbass. You could have easily killed that Toris guy and killed the kid!" _  
_"...Yes. I could have. But...but he didn't need to die..."  
"You seem upset. Have a beer!"_

Ludwig had always and would always be probably the strongest people I know. Mentally and physically. But he always use to tell me that I made him weak. I was never sure what that meant, no matter how he tried to explain it to me I never understood how someone like me could make someone like him weak in any way. But now...now I think I'm starting to get it.

* * *

**My note to you:  
Huzzah! A new chapter! Have I mentioned I absolutely love Francis? If I HAD to pick a favourite Hetalia character it would be Francis...but Gilbert is a very very very close second.  
ANYWAYS.  
I know the operation wasn't very descriptive and went very quickly and the writing was honestly a bit sloppy in my opinion but I hope you'll forgive me because I'm honestly just very new to writing this sort of fanfic and it's very early on in plot progression so there's really not much I can do...so I'm trying to focus on the characters rather than their surroundings...in other words I'm trying to stick to things I know how to write as opposed to disappointing you, my lovely readers, with lacking plot!  
Also! UPDATE: Some kind soul informed me of a bit of a blunder I made on the first chapter. It should have been the Germanian family and the _Roman_ Family. Not Romanian. Whoops. Brain fart. Oh well it's all fixed now so we can all continue to enjoy!  
****Byebye!**


	3. The Meeting

It had been a week since our last operation so everyone was getting a little antsy. Especially Alfred. He had a need to fire a gun at least once a day to stay living. The atmosphere around the bar was honestly as good as dead. Every now and again Francis would try to liven things up with some crude dirty joke. Each one was always the same.  
Antonio wouldn't get it.  
Alfred would laugh his ass off.  
Lovi would roll his eyes.  
Matthew would blush and pretend he didn't hear it.  
And I would gasp and say it was rude but laugh anyways.  
Grandpa wasn't around but if he was he'd smack Franny in the back of the head for being so foul mouthed but then laugh anyways because let's be honest my grandpa could be pretty childish.

"Oooh heres a good one! Why is santa so jolly!?" Francis grinned, full wine glass in hand. We all looked up from our bored and dreary states with the hopes of something exciting happening. And then something exciting did happen, when it wasn't Francis that delivered the punchline.  
"Oh I don't know...maybe because he knows where all the naughty girls live?" Our heads all whipped round to look at the door to see none other than Arthur Kirkland. We all stopped breathing for a few moments.  
"Well well! Long time no see mon chéri, Arthur! What do we owe the...pleasure?" Francis took no time standing up to greet our enemy. At that point we all knew that Arthur and Francis had some sort of history together. As to what that history was, we had no idea. Of course I know the whole story now...but that doesn't do us much good for right here. We'll get to that later.  
"Don't get too excited, frog. Apparently my immense talents and skill sets have been voted eligible to be squandered by the mind numbing job of a mail courier...I have a message for you." Arthur huffed.  
"My, my Arthur! Such big words! You know I like it better when you talk less and...moan...more." Francis raised an eyebrow, getting dangerously close to Arthur. We were all too scared to even breathe as Francis slowly trailed a finger up what looked like a really expensive suit jacket Arthur was wearing.  
"I will not hesitate to shove the entirety of the Royal Guard force so far up your arse you'll w-...actually. That wouldn't really work would it ? You'd probably enjoy it you bloody wine drinking whore." Arthur retorted calmly. I gasped, that was so mean.  
"You wound me. We both know I much prefer naval officers to soldiers...right, Captain Kirkland...?" Francis didn't back down, he practically breathed the words onto Arthur's lips. Seeing two supposed enemies like this so incredibly close together could only remind me of my kiss with Ludwig. One week had passed and Matthew was still the only one who knew about it. Matthew had probably forgotten about it by now but I couldn't get it out of my head. It was all I could think about. It wasn't my first kiss...but it was the first kiss I really felt. My attention snapped back to the scene forming in the bar.  
"Mm yes we do know that based on your pathetic excuse for a marriage proposal to me years ago." Arthur smirked. I could have sworn I saw some kind of pain in Arthur's eyes after he said what he did. But to be honest I was too focused on Francis. He physically staggered back slightly. Caught completely off guard by his words. We were all caught off guard. We had no idea what Arthur meant by that and we all wanted answers. Francis downed the last of his wine and smiled as sweetly as a man who had slept with over 100 people could.  
"Hm. Oui...indeed. So I believe you had some kind of letter for us?" Francis kept his cool, mostly.  
"Don't get too full of yourself. It's for the pipsqueak." Arthur smoothly flicked a pristine white envelope over to me.  
"M-Me...? B-But what did I do?" The only thing I could think of at this point was the fact that maybe the Germania Family had found out that I kissed Ludwig or something. That would not be good. Or what if the letter was from Ludwig? I didn't know what I was feeling at the time but now I realize it was probably something like...bliss. Ludwig had sent me a letter? I was so screwed. I could feel everyones eyes on me as I held the letter, too scared to even open it. I ended up running upstairs with it to my room, I felt too sick to open it until Matthew came upstairs.  
"Feli...what is this about...?" Matthew leaned against the little desk in the corner of my room as I sat on my bed.  
"I...I don't know...M-Mattie I'm scared I-I really don't know what to do what if they want to kill me!?" I was close to sobbing.  
"Feli. You need to open it..."  
I nodded. I opened it.

_Hello there arschgesicht-_

_"_Mattie what does 'arschgesicht' mean?"  
"Uhm. It's German for...assface...why?"

_Before I get started with this awesome letter let me introduce my awesome self. I am Ludwig's brother. You know Ludwig, the guy you made out with? Smooth move bro. West isn't normally so loose lipped...if y'know what I mean. Hah I'm hilarious! Anyways super happy lah lah to you and what was most likely your first ever kiss! But the thing is somehow you've managed to break mein bruder! Are you threatening him? How fun. Seriously, he won't kill anyone. I have a feeling that thats your fault. Come meet us. For a...parle sort of thing. You know? Like pirates. Awesome right? No weapons or explosives. (Not even the fun ones.) We just want to talk Mein bruder, Me, You and one person from your little family of misfits. The dock. 11pm tonight. Be there._

_-The Awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt._

"Oh thank god Mattie they don't want to kill me! ...I-I think."  
"What do they want with you?"  
"They...they want to meet up. And you're coming with me."  
"Oh maple."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hey! If it isn't maple syrup! Really, the Italian brought little Mr. Syrup to our meet up? I was expecting the French Fry!"  
"M-My name is Matthew...y-you're standing r-really close to me right n-now..." Matthew stuttered, Gilbert had pinned him against a wall. We had met them at The Dock as the requested. The Dock was an abandoned wear-house that was a cesspool of organized crime. You could find everything from drug money to drugs to the bodies of drug deals gone bad in there. It was also a popular meet up spot for organized crime syndicates. Pretty much what we were using it for.  
Ludwig was sitting on a crate off to the side while Gilbert harassed Matthew.  
"Uhm. Ciao...Ludwig..." I smiled and waved at him, I figured I might as well try to talk to him. For a ruthless mafia right hand and assassin, Ludwig looked pretty normal. Then again everyone looked normal to me at first...everyone just looked like a human being, A potential friend! But...Even down to how Ludwig dressed, black tank top, cargo pants and combat boots...He was just a normal guy. He looked really good that night. He always looked really good. He always looked so smart and tough and so b-...Not the point.  
"Oh. H-Hello Feliciano..." Ludwig didn't bother looking up at me. I was used to that by now.  
"Your brother told me you're afraid to kill anyone! Thats ok though because that's how I feel pretty much all the time!"  
"...How is it you are so perfectly ok with being so weak?" Ludwig looked up at me, his eyes were like ice. It terrified me so I just shrugged.  
"Being weak is ok when you're surrounded by people who are strong..."  
"So you prefer to simply lean on others? Don't you do anything for yourself!?"  
"I do things for myself. But I like to be nice to people. So when I do stuff for myself...I like to do things the nice way." I smiled at him.  
"That gets you no where..." Ludwig sighed, he thought I was an idiot.  
"I guess. But it gets me friends. That's what matters." I smiled again. Ludwig had a strange outlook on life, we were opposites but I found him so easy to talk to.  
"You are strange Feliciano Vargas..."  
"That depends on what you think is normal."  
This threw Ludwig off. He blinked a few times at me and I just kept smiling at him. I didn't think of him as my enemy at this point. I was raised all my life to hate this person and his entire family but this was the first time I had actually met him and I found it impossible to see him as an enemy...He was just Ludwig. We both looked over as we heard Matthew squeal. Gilbert still had him pinned to the wall and was pulling at the sweater he was wearing.  
"Does your sweater seriously have a polar bear on it!?"  
"Y-Yes! I-I-I like p-polar bears!"  
"Gilbert Nein! Nach unten!" Ludwig yelled at his brother. I asked him what he said to him and he apparently just said 'Gilbert no! Down!' Like he was some kind of dog. This made me giggle.  
"So...why did you...want to talk to me?"  
"Gilbert's idea. I don't know why we're here. It's a bad idea if you ask me..." Ludwig sighed. Gilbert made a show of back flipping over to us, Matthew sighed with relief.  
"I'm glad you asked!" Gilbert cackled, "We are here to figure out what you did to west! He can't kill anyone! You broke him asshole!"  
"Gilbert don't be rude..." Ludwig sighed, "I am fine."  
"Why is not being able to kill anyone a bad thing...that's good!" I chimed in.  
"Not if you're in a damn mafia, kid." Gilbert rolled his eyes, he thought I was an idiot too.  
"Oh. I guess you're right!" I giggled, still not really getting what they were going on about.  
"So! What did you do to West!? Poison him!? Threaten him!?" Now it was me Gilbert was unreasonably close to.  
"I-I-I didn't do anything I swear! P-Please don't kill me!" That was a talent of mine, being able to sob instantly. Matthew sighed and crossed his arms.  
"Am I the only one who finds it blatantly obvious that this is because Ludwig is in love with Feli?"

...It was dead silent.  
Everyone erupted at once.

"WHAT NO NO NO NO H-HE DOESN'T LOVE ME H-HE'S JUST- JUST. UH!"  
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LUDWIG IS IN LOVE WITH A NOODLE FOR BRAINS! AWESOME!"  
"NEIN THAT IS NOT AT ALL THE CASE HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT IS WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! DO NOT MAKE ME GAS YOU I HAVE WAYS TO KILL A MAN THAT WOULD MAKE SATAN CRY!"  
"Well...no you don't because you can't kill anyone anymore...because you're in love."  
"EVERYONE PLEASE STOP YELLING AT EACH OTHER IT'S REALLY SCARY!"  
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"  
"GILBERT STOP LAUGHING YOU FOOL."  
It would most likely take me my entire prison sentence to write down everything that was screamed that night. You get the point though, I was terrified, Gilbert was rolling on the floor in hysterical laughter, Ludwig was mad and Matthew was quiet. Well...Ludwig wasn't really mad...but like this weird blushy kind of mad that kind of made me smile a lot.  
It really was one hell of a night...I didn't even get to eat dinner.

* * *

**My little note to my little friends:  
Yay! A new chapter one week later as promised! This story is not going to have too much filler to it it's going to continue to just be very fast paced and rushy because let's be honest this is in Feli's point of view. He talks FAST man. Anyways super happy lah lah I LOVE Prussia. Oh! Also there was some FrUK in there kinda... Here's the thing. I ship FrUK to my grave but at the same time I can't help but obsess over USUK. For those of you who have read my PruCan story Your Star you'll remember I had a little bit of USUK undertones goin on there. Yeah. I write USUK and FrUK so I apologize if one of them is your NOTP or whatever...they're just side pairings. Focus on the GerIta!  
Also HUGE yippee to the Germans for winning the world cup! RIGHT ON!  
Haaaaaaave a great week everyone I'll see you next chapter!**


	4. Love

"OOOOHHHHH CAAAAAANADNAAAAA!"  
"Stop it you're butchering it...!" Matthew whined, Gilbert had been belting the Canadian anthem for an hour now just to make him angry. Ludwig and I were laughing at them from the other room. It was weird at first, seeing Ludwig laugh. But I slowly got used to it...and learned to love it.  
"I like it when you laugh Ludwig..." I smiled at him. He blushed, hard.  
"Oh...j-ja...th-thank you..."  
"So is it true...? You love me?"  
"I don't think it's as simple as deciding as to wether I have feelings for you..." Ludwig was always so smart.  
"Oh right. Of course... So what do we do?"  
"KISS HIM LUDDIE!" Gilbert cackled and Ludwig went a shade of red I thought was reserved for cartoon characters. Before Ludwig could do something like beat the shit out of his brother. Matthew's phone started to ring.  
"H-Hello...?" His phone wasn't on speaker but we could all hear who was on the other end.  
"MATTIE! DUDE! Where are you bro! I totally just realized that it's like 3am and you aren't even home! Don't tell me you're at some bimbos house getting laid! I had no idea you were that freaking cool!" Alfred shouted into the other end of the phone...well I say he shouted but really thats just how Al talked.  
"Al...I'm just out with Feli."  
"At 3 freaking AM!? YOU'RE NOT BANGING FELI ARE YOU DUDE!?"  
"Al. You're an idiot. Go back to bed we'll be home soon ok? We just lost track of time that's all." Matthew sighed and hung up. "Feli we better go before Al gets Gramps involved..."  
I nodded and stood to follow Matthew.  
"Oh...you're leaving maple syrup?" Gilbert frowned, seeming genuinely upset.  
"Bye Ludwig bye Gilbert!" I grinned as I waved to them. Ludwig grabbed my hand.  
"Wait. You realize that once you leave this room...we are once again enemies...we are never to see each other as friends again." Ludwig said softly and stared into my eyes with the utmost seriousness. I felt him slip something into my hand and I blinked a few times.  
"I-I know...but maybe..maybe we don't have to fight anymore...our whole families don't have to fight anymore..." Ludwig let go of my hand and laughed slightly.  
"If only it were that simple. Goodbye Feliciano. Goodbye Matthew." Ludwig nodded at us both and with that him and his brother were both gone. I rolled the piece of paper around in my hand for the hour it took for us to get back home, too scared to look at it. Even when I was laying in bed, the slip on paper sat on my bedside table until I finally was brave enough.

_Friday 11pm. Berwald's.  
I want to see you again. Alone.  
Ludwig_

Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god! Ludwig wanted to see ME!?  
Thats something along the lines of what I was thinking at that point in time. More importantly he wanted to meet at Berwald's. Berwald's was a nightclub owned by none other than Berwald Oxenstierna, former mob boss. He was also completely neutral between every mafia in New York City so you could be sure as hell that if he saw something he shouldn't have...he wouldn't say a goddamn word about it. He was a pretty scary guy but it's probably just because of all the nasty stuff he's seen in his life. He owned the club with another guy, Tino. Tino handled most of the social situations that Berwald couldn't. And then of course there was their bartender, Andersen. A Danish guy who loved to party, even if he were to be questioned he couldn't answer because he was normally too drunk to remember anything, so they kept him around.  
But anyways...Friday finally rolled round and I couldn't have asked for someone more perfect situation. Everyone except my brother and Antonio were out on an operation and even they were too busy blindly flirting with each other to even notice me leave the bar. I went straight to Berwald's and looked around. The club was full of loud music with soul crushingly loud bass-lines, black lights and people grinding all over each other. Then I saw Ludwig. Sitting at the bar drinking some kind of beer. I ran up and hugged him from behind.  
"Ludwig hi!" Some might say I was a little too comfortable with someone that I should be shooting on sight. But I knew he would never hurt me...or at least I thought I did.  
"Oh...Hallo Feliciano. You came." He smiled softly.  
"Of course I came! You're my friend! I like making friends!"  
And that was exactly what we became. Friends, best friends even. I saw him almost every day for the next 3 months. We talked to each other on disposable cell phones we bought until late at night. Texted, hung out at Berwald's and the dock. And the only people who knew about it were Matthew and Gilbert. Every now and then they would even come with us and have a few drinks or just sit around and talk to each other...somehow I got the feeling that they really liked each other too. Even though Gilbert denied having any sort of feelings towards a 'maple sucking, moose humping Canadian sociopath'. Everything was going amazingly. It started out with conversations about normal things like...how much money we've stolen, how many people we've killed, what's the coolest way we ever saw someone die...the biggest explosion we ever set off. But slowly our conversations turned into how we thought our families would get along really well, how we thought it was funny how Gilbert made Matthew blush so much...how pretty we thought each others eyes were...how much it would suck if we couldn't see each other anymore. But then words slowly turned to actions. I'd gently touch his arm when he said something funny, he'd put his hand on my thigh when he said something sweet to me sometimes we ran out of things to say and it wasn't even awkward...we just looked at each other and eventually he'd blush and I'd smile and say he was cute. It was all perfect.  
Until Francis found out about us.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN _SEEING_ HIM!?"  
"F-Francis please don't b-be mad! I-I just...I ran into him on the Łukasiewicz operation and...and we just started talking...!"  
"Łukasiewicz!? FELI THAT WAS OVER 3 MONTHS AGO! Do you even _know_ what would happen if your Grandfather found out!? If _Ludwig's_ Grandfather found out!? Feliciano this could get us all killed!"  
"Well...Well you always flirt with Arthur!" That was what set Francis off. I yelled those words in the heat of the moment but as soon as I said them I knew I had struck a nerve with Francis. He sat down on my bed defeatedly and laughed slightly.  
"I flirt with Arthur because I love him..." Francis said under his breath. It was just him and I in my room at that point. I sat next to him silently, waiting for him to talk to me. When no more words came, I spoke.  
"...You love...Arthur?"  
"Oui...I...I always have. We met when we were little kids. He was 5 and I was 6 We both lived on the streets of New York... We never trusted each other...it was every man for himself out there...but slowly Arthur and I came to an agreement of sorts...we worked together. Kept each other alive. He would make deals with people to get us places to stay and I would steal the things we needed to pay off the deal...sometimes I couldn't get the stuff in time and I'd have to find other ways to pay but...I would always find a way."  
"But...Grandpa said he picked you up of the street when you were 10...if you were with Arthur why didn't he join us too...?"  
"He did...you were only 3 years old when I first came into the family so you wouldn't remember...but Arthur worked for us for 5 years before he left to go back to England. A relative of him contacted him and offered him a place to stay back home so...he took it. The day he left I...I told him I loved him. I begged him not to go but he did...we were only 14 and 15 years old when he left so maybe we were simply too young but...he laughed. He said he'd never love me...I didn't see or hear from him again until he was arrested for the UK Navy mutiny scandal...I got him out of prison and he told me he loved me...we...uhm...we did some stuff that night that you're much too young to know about and-"  
"Francis I'm 19."  
"To me you will always be a little child. Anyways...I asked him to marry me. He said he wouldn't unless I quit the family. I of course refused and he took that as...we should be enemies. So he joined Germania...and now...now I've lost him again... now we are forced to hate each other..." Francis sighed, "And that...is why I flirt with Arthur so much...because I love him..."  
"Then...then why is it so wrong that I...I've been seeing Ludwig?" I whined, Francis laughed softly and placed his hand on my shoulder.  
"It's not I suppose...I wish all of us could get along so well. See him as much as you like just...hope to god no one else finds out... Feliciano do you...do you love him?"  
"...Yeah. I think I do...I love him."

* * *

**My note to you guys:  
Ah! So this chapter was quite a bit shorter than the previous ones but hey we got to find out a bit more about Francis and Arthur! Yay! Next chapter is when things get pretty crazy. We'll also get to see a bit into how Feli is doing in prison!  
Hope you stay tuned and enjoy!  
See you next Friday! **


	5. Friends and Letters

Ok so I'm not going to lie... it hurts like a bitch to write right now. And I'm not just talking about the disgusting pain in my heart having to relive every single moment that led me to being in prison. No this hurts like hell to write for 2 reasons:  
1. Prison is scary. Someone found out I was gay and decided to break a few of my fingers and ribs.  
2. The reason they found out I was gay was because of a letter I got from my family today. Mail day always hurts the most because it just makes me miss everything on the outside that much more. I just want to go home...I just want to see Ludwig!

I'll just stick the letter in here for now until I find I good spot for it.

_Feli,  
_

_Francis here, As usual we all miss you a whole lot. I know you just want to get to the part that Ludwig writes so I'll keep it really short. Actually he's watching me write this right now telling me to hurry up so he can write his part. To be honest now I'm just writing all of this nonsense to annoy him. It's working. He's the same as usual. You know how he is...no change there. Which I guess is good if you love him just the way he is, no? Ok ok he's threatening to smash my wine bottles now. So anyways Lovi finally admitted he's in love with Antonio. He wasn't happy about it. But he admit it! As for Matthew, still being picked on by that Albino boyfriend of his. Ah...young love. Arthur sends his regards. Sort of. I'm still trying to get him to marry me... He will someday. Just you wait. Alfred said he'll come to visit you this week sometime but you know how he gets...he'll probably forget. We all love you and miss you and as you know...owe you our lives. Now onto Ludwig..._

_Feliciano. As you know I count down the days until your release. It's not long now until I get to see you. Merely days until your release. Well...if you want to see me that is. I know it is hard for you to respond to these letters and I know I haven't written in quite some time. I assure you it's not because I've grown tired of you. It is simply because the words I write on these pages are strenuous. Not just because 'it hurts to love someone as much as I love you and not be able to see them everyday' as you once said to me... but as you know it's been very hard for me to do anything remotely useful lately. I just hope once you are free...you are still willing to be with me. There is a lot I could tell you but unfortunately I cannot write any more.  
I hope to see you in 15 days.  
Ich lib-_

The page was torn there and I was beaten up when they figured out it was a man saying all those loving things to me. I'm ok though. I know what the end of the letter was going to say anyways.  
Is it really only 15 days until I get out? I had honestly lost count... Why would Ludwig think I didn't want to see him though...? I know Ludwig hasn't been very well lately. I know he was in hospital for a few months but that's all I know. That's all they'll tell me... I don't get it. The family has a strict 'Don't talk about what happened' rule. So I'm kept pretty much in the dark about anything and everything that isn't happy news. I honestly don't even know for sure who's dead and who's alive! Except 2 of course... But anyways I guess I should be getting back to the story. Ok last time I wrote I told you about how Franny knew I was seeing Ludwig. So now Matthew, Francis and Gilbert knew about our little secret meetings. For a while all they thought we were doing was going to bars and having drinks and talking. But it was one night than drinks turned into utter blurs. The blurs of drinks turned into blurs of the black leather of a New York City cab. Which turned into blurs of his pale flesh against mine. Dull green, perfectly ironed bedsheets turned into a crumpled stained mess. Clothes scattered along with our senses. Sounds of gasps and moans tangled up in one another to become just another factor in what was the most fast paced, desperate haze I've ever been in. Names were cried out...or were they whispered? I can't remember. What I can remember is that for that night. It felt like Ludwig was a stranger...it felt like everything I had learned about him, everything had told me meant nothing because now I knew everything about him. In the drunken slurred out whispers and cries that came along with the sweat that created a thin barrier between our flesh that felt thicker than what we could tolerate...in all of that I felt like I was just meeting Ludwig for the first time. A feeling that couldn't be matched by every bowl of pasta on earth. It's when we woke up the next morning that things got interesting.  
We woke up still tangled together. I was sore as hell but at the same time felt amazing. This must have been Ludwig's place because it definitely wasn't mine. My eyes glanced around the room and it looked so...Lugwig. Everything was clean and in it's proper place. There was bookshelves packed tightly with well loved novels, his desk was organized and everything was perfectly straight. I couldn't help but smile...we were so different. The thing that makes me smile the most...I smile just thinking about it. When he sleeps and his hair gets all messed up and falls into his eyes. It's cute...he always has his hair gelled back with precision. But seeing his asleep and completely himself...it was amazing. I spent a while like that just laying on him, looking at him. To be honest I was surprised I woke up before him. I didn't mind of course. I liked just lazing around until his eyes met mine. He looked sort of...panicked.  
"Morning." I smiled.  
"G-Good morning Feliciano..."  
"Do...you remember last night? You don't seem very hungover..." I stayed still and just watched as his expression changed into a soft smile.  
"I am German. I can handle beer. Yes I remember...Yourself...?"  
"I'm Italian. I've been drinking since I was little..." I laughed.  
"You don't...regret...being with me...?" Ludwig said softly, he pulled me a little bit closer.  
"Why would I regret it...? I could never regret it."  
"...We shouldn't have done this Feliciano...if anyone we're to find out-"  
"We shouldn't be criminals either. But we do. Our whole life is breaking the rules Ludwig...I-I don't see why we have to follow our families rules when we don't follow anyone else's!" I frowned.  
"It's not that simple Feliciano..."  
"Why can't it be? Do you even know _why_ we're supposed to hate each other...? Is there even a reason!?" I was getting pretty mad at that point. Not at Ludwig...just at everything else. It was stupid we couldn't be together. What was this? Romeo and Juliet!? Did a bunch of people have to die to get our families to get along!? Seriously it was really getting on my nerves! At that point I was sitting up. I didn't like how cold it was without Ludwig close to me but I was mad. Ludwig sat up too and blinked a few times.  
"You...you don't know...?"  
"Know what!?"  
"Feliciano...do you remember your Grandmother?"  
"...no she died when I was little..."  
"Yes. She died when you were 4 years old."  
"H-How did you..." I watched as Ludwig got out of bed and pulled boxers on before moving over to a bookshelf. He pulled out an old looking book and flipped through the pages until a piece of paper poked out. He carefully took it out and handed it to me. I almost passed out. The picture was of...us. It pictured an 11 year old Francis giving Arthur a piggyback ride, Gilbert had a bird sitting on his head and was playing with a toy sword, Antonio was hugging Lovi and it was clear Lovi was getting ready to punch him. Grandpa and Grandma were drinking wine at the bar with...Alderich. Everyone looked so happy. What really made my head spin though... was the fact that in this photo...right in the very middle was... me. 4 year old me, holding hands with...Ludwig. My vision went blurry and I wanted to burst into tears. "L-Ludwig wh-why are we...y-you're with...we...we were...friends...!"  
"Yes...I-I thought you knew, Feliciano. Our families were once close...very close."  
"Why!? Why do we hate each other now!?"  
"...My grandfather...he killed your grandmother." Ludwig sounded ashamed, I could tell he hated having to explain this to me. And so he explained. He explained that my Grandpa made a wrong move. He started stealing money from people he shouldn't have been stealing from and it made Aldrich angry. Aldrich warned him not to but he kept doing it anyways. Aldrich said that next time he accepted a job he shouldn't have...he wouldn't hesitate to stop them. Grandpa didn't listen. He went in for a large amount of money and Aldrich fired a warning shot...into my grandma's chest. I was a sobbing mess at that point. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How did I not know any of this?! Why had no one told me that we were once all friends!?  
"I'm sorry Feliciano...I assumed you knew all of this. I-I understand if you want to rethink our...our...re-...relationship."  
"No I... I'm going to get our families to be friends again..."  
"What..."  
"Ludwig if we all used to be friends why can't we do that again!? We can...we can get our families back together! That way we can be together and we can all be friends and we don't have to fight! W-We just need to talk to them!"  
"Feliciano when was the last time our families settled ANY issues with words!? They WILL kill us!"  
"They...they won't! Ludwig we have to try!"  
"No. Feliciano we're not doing it. If you try anything I'll deny I even spoke a word to you."  
"You...you wouldn't..."  
"I'm sorry... I'm not letting you get killed. You should get home now. Your family are most likely worried. Goodbye Feliciano."  
The next time I saw Ludwig after that...was like I never knew him at all.

* * *

**My note to y'all:  
Gosh this is going way faster than I thought it would. I'll probably have this all wrapped up in 3 or 4 more chapters depending on how long I decide to make them!  
Next chapter might be a little late because I have a crapola ton of stuff to get done but I'll try and have it up by friday as usual! The next chapter will most likely feature some of the side pairings and how their day to day mafia life goes. That or Feliciano confronts Aldrich. I'm not sure yet because at this point in time...I haven't even written it yet! Don't worry...I'll figure it out...I think.  
Anyways as I always do, I thank you profoundly for all of your reviews, follows and favourites! You guys really make my day with your reviews! :D  
Stay cool!  
**


	6. Lies first, Truth later

"Right...so you're telling me...that Ludwig Beilschmidt. THE Ludwig Beilschmidt...the man who has quite literally killed a man using nothing but his own moustache and a grape and can shoot a moth out of the air at 50 meters...is not only hopelessly in love...but he's hopelessly in love...with you?"  
"Si. Exactly."  
"...You seriously called me for an urgent parle meeting to ignore my sarcasm and tell me that?" It was plain to see that Arthur was in absolutely no way believing me. I had called him to the dock to tell him about Ludwig and I because I knew Arthur was the messenger for the Germania family so he could relay my information back safely. Plus I figured that if he once loved Francis...he must still love him somewhere right?  
"...Yes."  
"Feliciano. We all know Ludwig is an attractive guy. If you have a bit of a crush on him that there is no reason to be embarassed other than the fact that his family will most likely attempt to murder you brutally for it."  
"Arthur please! We're in love I swear! Where do you think Ludwig has been disappearing to every night! He's coming to see me!" This seemed to grab his attention.  
"...why are you telling me this? Did he break up with you so now you're trying to exact revenge or something?" Arthur raised an eyebrow and crossed his legs as he sat on a crate.  
"No I...I'm just tired of hiding. I want our families to get along like they used to! You...you were there! You and Francis were friends!"  
"Pah! Friends!? Is that what that wine pissing frog told you!?" Arthur scoffed.  
"You loved him-"  
"Lies!"  
"He got you out of prison and you slept with hi-"  
"LIES!"  
"...he told me he asked you to marry him-"  
"Lies"  
"But you said no-"  
"I NEVER SAID NO! I asked him to do ONE bloody thing and he refused! He was the one that...that...oh piss..." Arthur sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was weird seeing someone who always upheld themselves just...crumble.  
"...Do you still love him?"  
"I-I don't bloody know! All of that happened years ago! I gave him a choice! And he chose...he chose you assholes over me!"  
"Arthur! See! If we were able to get our families to be friends again...you and Francis could be together!"  
"And why would I want that...? Did Francis put you up to this!? Oh brilliant! Well done! Is this just a way to get him and I back together without him leaving the his bloody family!? Do you take me for a fool!"  
"Arthur...no this is for all of us...Francis doesn't even know I'm doing this!"  
"Oh does he not? Well don't worry...your messaged will be taken back to my family and heard loud and clear. I thank you dearly Feliciano. ...Rot in hell." Arthur scoffed and left. If I didn't have a bad feeling about my plan in the beginning...I sure as hell did now.

I asked Ludwig to send me a letter explaining his side for me just to get the full picture. So this part is all what Ludwig had to say.

What happened that night? It's difficult to remember but... Arthur arrived back at the wear-house where my family was situated and he seemed to be...almost possessed by rage of sorts. Which wasn't too unusual for him but this was different. He kept laughing to himself and then crying and then shouting, until he finally told us what was the matter.  
"This bloody kraut!" He pointed to my brother and then shook his head and pointed to me. "Has been snogging that little italian boy from the Roman side!"  
"...which one?" Gilbert snickered.  
"The idiot one!" I wanted to defend you Feliciano but I was on thin ice as it were. Everyone stared at me except Gilbert. He just started laughing.  
"Is that true Ludwig?" Elizabeta murmured what everyone else was too shocked to say. I realize now how cowardly I was for denying my feelings for you and we possibly could have avoided this whole ordeal if I were to simply have told them or even just left the family for you... but the only thing I could think to do was deny it all. They of course all believed me. Even Arthur did. He just uttered some curses about Francis and left the wear-house while everyone wondered what the hell he was talking about. There were only two people who did not believe my denial. Of course there was Gilbert, because he already knew the truth. But then there was my grandfather. He did not believe me for a second. My Grandfather had a very established moral of 'Trust no One' not even his own Grandson.  
"Ludwig. Explain to me what he was saying." Most say that my Grandfather and I look very similar...but I hate to think that I look as terrifying as him. I told him that everything Arthur had said was nonsense and he was most likely drunk. "You and I both know that Arthur is our most reliable resource for information and is hardly ever wrong." My grandfather was adamant on getting the truth out of me. And as you know...he never got the truth that night. But he forbid me from leaving the wear-house under any circumstances until the war began.  
I hope that information is enough. See you soon Feliciano.  
Yours, Ludwig.

As for me, I went back to the glass tomato that night and went straight to Francis. I knew he would still be awake. Sure enough he was laying in bed reading some kind of playgirl magazine and drinking wine. He shoved the magazine away as soon as I came in and I burst into tears.  
"F-Francis I did something bad!"  
"Mon dieu who did you kill...?"  
"Wh-what!? I didn't kill anyone!"  
"Oh. Oui of course...you're not your brother. What's wrong Feliciano? Come, sit." Francis put an arm around my shoulders and sat me down next to him on his bed.  
"I...I told Arthur about Ludwig and I..." Francis froze and it seemed like he was trying incredibly hard not to yell.  
"Ah. And...why exactly...would you do that...?"  
"I-I thought that...b-because Arthur used to love you...th-that maybe he would understand and...and we could get our families to be close friends again..."  
"Wh-Who told you about that!?" Francis gasped.  
"Ludwig did...he showed me a picture of both of our families being happy together! You were with Arthur and Grandpa was with Aldrich and Grandma was even there too! And I was holding hands with Ludwig...! Then he told me that Grandpa was stealing money from good people so he killed Grandma to get him to stop!" Francis blinked a few times at my words and began to laugh.  
"is that what he told you...? It seems Aldrich didn't want his family to know the true story..." Francis sighed, he obviously didn't want to tell me this...but he had to now. "Tell no one I told you of this, oui?"  
"...Ok..."  
"Grandma and Grandpa ran the family together for a long time. They were an unstoppable combination...until Grandpa met Aldrich. They began to have an affair."  
"What!?" I had always seen my Grandpa as an honourable man. It was hard to believe he had cheated on his wife with a man who was now his arch enemy.  
"It's true. He and Aldrich fell in love. They formed a strong alliance with each others families and could have easily ran the whole of new york city into the ground... They both became greedy. Grandpa's greed was fuelled by money and power. Aldrich's greed was fuelled by Grandpa. Aldrich wanted him all to himself so he asked him to divorce your grandmother and allow their families to join fully. However when Grandpa refused to leave her for him... Aldrich killed her in a jealous rage. Ever since...we've been at war."  
"N-No..."  
"You weren't supposed to know about all of that Feli...you can't tell the others I told you..."  
"Why!? Why is everyone lying to me!?" I sobbed, I went to run from the room but someone stood in my way.  
"Because you're too weak to handle such news Feliciano."  
"G-Grandpa...?" I whimpered. He had been there the whole time. Neither of us noticed. Fuck.  
"I never wanted you to find out about the past because I knew how much it would upset you. I cheated on your grandmother and I was the reason for her death... Which is why you can't be in love with Ludwig."  
"Grandpa!"  
"FELICIANO!" It was always so scary when Grandpa yelled...he hardly ever yelled! "Ludwig is using you. He obviously wants to use you to get close to out family and kill us. Rob us blind! Is that what you want!?"  
"Y-You're wrong h-he...he loves me...he really does...!" I was on the verge of tears. Francis pulled me behind him to try and intervene.  
"Sir in all honesty I really think-"  
"How long have you known of this Francis?" Grandpa didn't let him finish. We had never seen him this mad.  
"...Not long."  
"And you never thought to come to me with this information?"  
Francis scoffed, "Well sir I was trained not to be a rat."  
Grandpa grabbed me from behind Francis and placed a gun in my hand. Francis sighed and looked away like he knew what was being asked of me.  
"You've gotten close to Ludwig. If you don't use that to your advantage to kill him...then I will...slowly. You have 48 hours." And with that, Grandpa left the room and I was left speechless.  
I now had 48 hours to kill the love of my life or my Grandfather was going to torture him to death.

* * *

**My note to you:  
Ah well that sucks. How will he get out of this one?  
I APOLOGIZE FOR THE SLIGHTLY LATE CHAPTER I WAS BUSY DOING THINGS AND STUFF.  
I also apologize for this chapter being a bit shorter than usual but hey at least it's something right?  
I can't guarantee there will be a new chapter for this story on friday as well but for anyone who is following my PruCan story as well as this one, there WILL be a new chapter of that! ...I hope.  
As always thanks a whole bunch for supporting this story and being patient with me! This story is close to being over I think so just hold on for a little bit longer!  
Thank you! **


	7. Content

People will always say things like 'Love Hurts' or 'They're called crushes because someone always gets crushed in the end.' I always thought sayings like that were stupid. Love is a happy thing! Love makes you so happy that just thinking about the person makes your chest feel all tight and achey... And when your hand brushes theirs you feel like the Spanish Tomatina festival is happening all inside you. Love is supposed to make you feel like you're a piece of pasta in boiling water...first you're stiff and scared of getting hurt or snapped...then slowly you sink into the feeling until you're completely immersed in it, turning you soft and no longer scared of being broken, just ready to feel so loose and free forever.  
I know that's a really girly and sappy way to look at love but thats how I always saw it. Thats how I always felt being with Ludwig. Being with him made me feel all gooey inside. Which was weird considering how tough and scary he always was. But it was those small glimmers of smiles and those little blushes when I did something he found cute. It was all of those that made me just smile and never want to stop smiling. And in that moment, right then and there...for the first time in what felt like a very very long time...everything about Ludwig hurt me. I couldn't stand to look at the betrayal on his face when I pointed a gun at him. I was lucky my eyes were so full of tears I could barely even see him otherwise I don't think I could have done what I did.

"Feliciano...please. Is...Is this because I denied our relationship?" Ludwig's voice shook slightly.  
"...Ludwig please d-don't sp-speak...! I-I have to do this..."  
"You don't have to do this Feliciano...Give me the gun...please." Ludwig held out his hand.  
"Ludwig I...I can't do that..."  
"Feliciano you're shaking. Just...at least tell me why you are doing this?" Ludwig for so calm for someone with a gun pointed at them.  
"I...m-my grandpa...h-he...he knows a-and...he...he.."  
"So he put you up to this did he? He wishes for you to kill me?" He interjected, figuring it all out. I could only nod. I couldn't believe I was actually expected to kill Ludwig. The man who I had been in love with for months now. I couldn't just let Ludwig be tortured to death by my family...this would be the painless way r-right? Then again...I still have trouble even hurting people. Did I really think I could kill someone? Especially when that someone was the love of my life? No. That's why I put the gun down.  
"R-Run away with me! W-We don't have to be in anyone's families anymore! W-We can get real j-jobs and live together and be normal!" I sobbed.  
"Feliciano do you really think I could be normal even after how many people I've killed? Do you really think our families couldn't hunt us down in an instant? If you must kill me Feliciano...do it." Ludwig took off his coat and laid it down in front of me. "Take this...I'd hate for my gift to you to be stained with my blood..." Ludwig was always so tough...but in that moment I could have sworn I saw tears in his eyes.  
"L-Ludwig...I-I can't..."  
"Feliciano look at me. You have to do this. I won't let you lose your family. I won't let you throw all of that away for me. If you must, kill me." Ludwig said firmly. No human being _wants_ to die. Even people who commit suicide don't want to _die._ They just want things to end. So I knew Ludwig didn't want to die. No. What he wanted was to die for me. He wanted to die if it meant my happiness. It wasn't fair. I couldn't kill him. Either way I would seem selfish. If I killed him it was because I wanted to keep my family so I could be happy. If I didn't kill him I would be selfish because I allowed my Grandpa to torture him just because I couldn't kill him. It really wasn't fair in any light you looked at it.  
"Ludwig...I...I don't want to do this..."  
"Then don't. Put the gun down Feliciano...come be with me ok...?" Ludwig took a slow step forwards so he could take my gun.  
"I-I can't? G-Grandpa w-will kill you! He really will!" I sobbed.  
"Well let him...spend my last few days telling me you love me...teach me some more of those silly Italian words. Ja? We can make Pasta for dinner tonight...come over to my apartment and if you promise not to make a mess then we can take a bath together..." Ludwig spoke calmly and slowly. I felt like a suicide attempter that was trying to be talked out of jumping.  
"...O-Ok..."  
"Ok? Ok Feliciano give me the gun..." I dropped the gun into Ludwigs hands and here's the real kicker. Ludwig absolutely froze and glared at me as he unloaded the gun. "FELICIANO! THIS GUN IS NOT LOADED!" He yelled.  
"Oh...oops."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"...Ludwig we should run away together..." I murmured as Ludwig lathered shampoo into my hair. This is probably my favourite memory I have of him...Just laying in the warm soapy water of his bathtub, chests pressed together as we lazily kissed one another and giggled as we touched random places on one another's bodies. I loved that shade of pink his cheeks went whenever I told him I loved him or whenever I touched him in a spot that embarrassed him.  
"We already discussed this. You know we can not do that Feliciano..."  
"Why do you always say my whole name...you can call me Feli."  
"Everyone calls you Feli...I wish to call you by the name that was given to you...it's perfect just the way it is." Ludwig kissed my forehead. It wasn't often he acted so affectionate with me. It was probably just because of my 'I'm going to shoot you in the head' breakdown...he probably thought I needed some attention. It's not like I minded at all.  
"Oh...Ok then...Call I call you Luddie?"  
"No."  
"Oh. How about west?"  
"Only mein bruder calls me that."  
"Oh. Ok. I like the name Ludwig anyways..." I yawned, being so warm and comfortable really made me tired, Ludwig carefully poured some water onto my head to wash away all of the soap from my hair. I didn't even flinch as he did this. I didn't have time to...I was so busy listening to the strong and steady sound of his heartbeat.  
If I had to pick the hardest thing about being in prison...it's not falling asleep to the sound of Ludwig's heartbeat. It may have been in charge of pumping blood though _his_ body...but that didn't explain why _I _feel so empty without it. It's as if my heart is unable to do it's job without Ludwig's heart's assistance. It wasn't fair...I hadn't felt that way since...since...oh my god. That little boy in the picture was Ludwig...which meant...he was my first love.

_Feliciano you have 24 hours. Is he dead? -Grandpa_

...And quite possibly my last love.

* * *

**My note to you:  
I'm alive! Sort of...I just went back to school a week or so ago and I have a crap ton of computer programming and advanced coursed plus I'm in 3 school bands and the debate team...I'm busy as hell so please please be patient. I will update as often as I can but it's looking like these chapters will be posted once a month or so.  
As always I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience. New stories will be up within the next few months too so look forward to those!  
See ya!**


End file.
